Stress is one of the major causes of neurotransmitter imbalance, and is a very common trigger for depression. Therefore, establishing a regular stress management routine can dramatically reduce the frequency and severity of depression. Experiment with a variety of different stress reduction techniques until you find the right mix for you. Here are several ideas to get you started:
Meditation
Most of us have no idea why we feel the way we do or what we can do about it. Meditation offers a way to tap into our own inner guidance to help us find our way.
Daily meditation can often help keep you calmer throughout the day, especially when the going gets rough. This can be as simple as sitting quietly for 10-15 minutes daily, focusing on your breathing as the breath goes in and out of your nose. Many people find that meditating every morning gets them in the right frame of mind to start their day. Alternatively, meditating before bed often leads to better quality sleep. Try each (or both!) for a month and see which works best for you.
If you find that it is difficult to keep your mind focused, you may want to use a guided meditation or visualization. This simply means that you listen to an audio that directs you what to do, giving your mind more directed guidance which often allows you to stay focused. There are literally thousands of audio mediations available online and in your library.
If reading is more your thing, a great book to have on hand is Full Catastrophe Living: Using the Wisdom of Your Body and Mind to Face Stress, Pain, and Illness
by Jon Kabat-Zinn. This book contains a complete program, including different types of meditations, visualizations and yoga that can be incredibly useful to establish a regular stress reduction routine.
Deep breathing
Just taking deep breaths throughout the day can lead to a heightened awareness of how you are feeling and allow you to calm
your reactions to daily stressors before they get out of hand. Set a reminder (on your phone, watch or computer) and take a couple deep breaths every 30-60 minutes.
Alternatively, you could associate taking a deep breath with something you do regularly throughout the day. For instance, take a deep breath every time:
- You read or send an email
- Your phone rings
- You hang up the phone
- Someone says your name
- You walk through a doorway
- You go through a stoplight
You get the idea – by associating taking a deep breath with activities that happen regularly throughout your normal day, you’ll naturally begin to breathe deeply more often, reducing your stress response.
Here are some great breathing exercises you can also incorporate into your day.
Martial Arts
Many people find a regular martial arts practice to be incredibly helpful in not only relieving stress, but also feeling more grounded and to aware of how they are feeling. Many martial arts can fit this bill, including yoga, tai chi, and qi gong. Find a class or local group and give one or more of these a try.
Journaling
Journaling can be one of the most profound activities you can do to help alleviate depression by getting you in touch with 
why you are feeling the way you are. For instance, you can often write down things you don’t feel safe enough to say, and this can be incredibly cathartic. For example, if you are steaming-mad about something, write down exactly how you are feeling and what you feel like saying or doing; get it all out – every last detail with as much emotion as it takes. Keep going until the energy has fizzled out. If needed, go to a safe place and get it out verbally, either like a role-play or just yell, kick, scream, cry or whatever you need to do. Once you have vented all your feelings and frustrations, you will often be much clearer on what you need to do without the added emotional charge that could get you into trouble.
Many people find that keeping a daily or weekly journal is a great way to get their thoughts, including distressing thoughts, down on paper and out of their head where they would otherwise cause a never-ending cycle of worry and suffering. If you still have a charge after getting your thoughts down on paper, you may want to tear up or tear out the paper and even through it away or burn it to release some of your pent up energy. Try it – you may be pleasantly surprised at the weight that can be lifted off your shoulders by picking up a pen.
Active Imagination
Another useful technique is called active imagination. Active imagination is a path to self-discovery that uses your imagination to help you understand more about what is going on inside you. It is perhaps best known in the United States because of the work of C. G. Jung’s emphasis on its therapeutic use. To learn more about active imagination and other methods to tap into your unconscious potential, I recommend Living Your Unlived Life: Coping with Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life
In its most basic form, you can use active imagination to have a conversation with those parts of yourself that need to be heard or dealt with in your life. Active imagination consists of deliberately talking to yourself or, more precisely, talking to unconscious aspects of yourself so you can alter the invisible patterns that shape your experience.
In active imagination, you observe the images and voices that rise up from your unconscious and create a dialogue with them. You examine their premises and intentions. Unlike dreams or passive fantasies, which go nowhere when left unnoticed, when you participate in this conversation with yourself consciously you will find a wealth of untapped and previously unknown information about what is driving your experience or behavior.
Virtually every one hears a voice, or more accurately, several voices, in their head much of the time in the form of continuous chatter. These inner voices comment, speculate, judge, and complain and interfere with your life all the time. They compare the current situation to the past or rehearse possible future scenarios.
The problem is that most of the time, we unconsciously allow these inner voices to run our lives without realizing it. When working well, these inner voices help us learn from the past and allow us to gain diverse viewpoints and perspectives. Unfortunately, when limited and stuck they can also be your worst enemy – attacking and punishing, worrying, draining your energy and keeping you caught in redundant cycles. The good news is that it is possible through active imagination to talk back to these inner voices and thereby challenge and change the things that are making you feel stuck in life.
To benefit from this dialogue you will need to get over the prejudice that talking to yourself is a form of mental weakness. It’s not – done in the proper way, having this internal dialogue can provide profound insights to help you break through barriers that have been holding you back your entire life. We all talk to ourselves all the time. The trouble is that for the most part these conversations remain passive. We replay old tapes and repeat the same old patterns over and over without actively engaging with them.
In active imagination you are not so much talking to yourself as participating in an inner drama. You begin to know and learn from aspects of yourself that you had never before consciously considered. For active imagination to be effective you must let your inner figures be what they are rather than force them to be what you think they ought to be. You job is to build a relationship with these inner figures and you should abide by the same morals and ethics you would when you build any relationship. Be honest, follow through on your commitments, and don’t try to overpower or judge; get to know these inner aspects of yourself as you would a new friend. If there is no relationship, nothing is gained from this experience.
Here is a method to get started; it is modified from Robert Johnson’s book Living Your Unlived Life: Coping with Unrealized Dreams and Fulfilling Your Purpose in the Second Half of Life
Many people like to conduct active imagination sessions at their computers; others prefer to use a notebook for their sessions. 
It doesn’t matter what form or method you use, but you must record the experience in some way; it’s very important to get them out of your head and into some concrete form.
The hardest part for most people is getting started – this step will require patience and concentration. In most cases your first efforts will not be encouraging. Nothing may appear for a time. Just keep repeating the exercise – let it happen and eventually things will flow.
Start by just sitting and letting your mind drift a bit. If you feel awkward or fidgety, it often means that there are a lot of energies being stirred up. Whatever image, feeling or body sensation pops up, focus your attention on it and do not let it go until it has explained why it appeared to you, what message it brings and what it wants from you. Write down anything and everything that comes to you without actually reading or analyzing it – that will come later. The important thing right now is to capture the information. Don’t worry about syntax, spelling or punctuation, just write.
Hold onto whatever comes to you and wait for it to change by itself. Ask it whatever questions you want answered and wait for a reply. Be patient; if nothing comes after a while, ask another question. Have a conversation, just as you would with a new companion.
Find out which inner voice in you wants to be heard. Which is causing trouble? What is the recurrent inner figure that is making you anxious, depressed, dissatisfied or fearful?
Most people need a disciplined practice of some sort – including prayer, meditation, yoga, and/or martial arts – to keep their lives in balance. Active imagination can also serve this role and should be undertaken for at least 30 minutes every day. This requires discipline, but the rewards are well worth it.
When doing these exercises, if at any time you feel out of control or overwhelmed, find someone who knows about this technique – such as a pastor, therapist or trusted friend – and ask them for help. If you have trouble stopping and can’t rein in the inner figures, then this technique is not for you at this time. Active imagination is not appropriate for anyone who tends to get inundated with unconscious material, such as those diagnosed with a dissociative disorder.
However, the major risk for most people is that this technique may change your life dramatically. As noted earlier, your inner dialogue should be recorded, written down or typed up. This is a major protection against being overcome by a powerful force in the unconscious or turning the experience into just another passive fantasy. Writing it down also provides a record so that you can remember and digest the experience afterward.
